


Worth the Effort

by StBridget



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 08:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11309121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StBridget/pseuds/StBridget
Summary: Jack goes all out to impress Mac.  But, maybe he's trying just a bit too hard.





	Worth the Effort

**Author's Note:**

> MacGyver is property of CBS and its creators.
> 
> Continuing my campaign against the darkness. :)
> 
> Inspired by a post on an FB group asking if anyone wrote dates--no smut, just dates. I have, but lately they've turned into smut, so I decided to go back to just a sweet little first date story. Enjoy!

Jack Dalton was riding high. The mission had gone off without a hitch, unusual for them; they hadn’t even needed his partner Angus “Mac” MacGyver’s special brand of improvising. Jack was on top of the world. With the adrenaline coursing through him, he felt like he could accomplish anything. So, he decided to take a gamble on something else he wanted.

 

“Hey, Mac, want to go out?” Jack blurted on the way home. They were on the plane, across the aisle from each other. The other two members of the team, Wilt Bozer and Riley Davis, were asleep farther back. Jack berated himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth. _Real smooth, Dalton. For someone who supposedly has a way with the ladies, that was really lame. Way to impress a guy._

 

So smooth Mac apparently missed the point. He looked up from the fidget cube he was worrying—Bozer had made it on the lab’s 3D printer to give Mac something to keep his hands occupied on long trips; otherwise, Mac would go through an entire box of paperclips on an overseas trip. “Sure. Or we could just hang out at my place. We can ask Riley and Bozer what they want when they wake up.”

 

“No, I mean us,” Jack clarified, motioning between them. “You and me.” Yeah, that really cleared things up.

 

Mac shrugged. “Sure, if you want to grab drinks, just the two of us, I’m good with that.”

 

Jack tried again to get his meaning across. “I was thinking more like dinner.”

 

Mac froze, fidget cube dangling from suddenly still fingers. “Like a date?” he said carefully.

 

Jack was seized with nerves—this didn’t sound promising. Regardless, he forged ahead. “Yeah, like a date.” Mac was silent, so Jack backtracked hastily. “You know, on second thoughts, drinks at your place is good.”

 

Mac held up a hand to silence Jack. “No, dinner’s good. A date’s good. You just. . .surprised me is all.”

 

Jack heaved a sigh of relief, but he couldn’t quite believe Mac wasn’t just humoring him. “You sure? We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

 

Mac reached across the aisle and laid a hand on Jack’s arm, smiling. Jack savored the light touch of skin on skin, though he longed for so much more. “No, Jack, I’d like to,” Mac assured him.

 

Jack was elated.

 

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It was late when the plane landed, so they all went straight home to crash. The next day was spent in the office filling out reports, but Jack was more concerned about where to take Mac for their date. The older agent really wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to make a good impression, but he wasn’t sure how to go about it. Jack could wine and dine beautiful women he’d just met in any city in the world, but he was at a loss when it came to romancing his best friend—his _male_ best friend. Well, wining and dining was a good place to start. But where? Jack didn’t want to take Mac to one of their usual places—he wanted this to stand out, to be something special. Trouble was, while he could name a dozen restaurants in a dozen cities across the world, he very seldom ventured beyond his good ole standbys in LA. He could ask Bozer, but Jack was nervous of his reaction. Bozer could ridicule him, or worse, give him the protective best friend speech—not that Jack would dare hurt Mac. He liked—maybe even loved—the kid too much for that. Still, he’d rather not bring Bozer into it.

 

So, Jack resorted to looking online. He plugged LA into OpenTable, daunted to find over a thousand tables available for that night. He really wanted to impress Mac, so he opted for the highest price point—it was more than he’d usually spend, but Mac was worth it. That left 77—better, but still a lot. Hmm, cuisine. Jack would prefer a good steak, himself, but wasn’t French what you went for when you really wanted to go all out? He clicked that. There was a restaurant downtown with a reservation for 7 pm. Perfect. He booked it and texted Mac.

 

 _Dinner tonight, 7 pm. Dress nice_.

 

 _See you then,_ Mac texted back.

 

Step one complete.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Jack was grateful he only had one good suit; otherwise, he wasn’t sure how long it would have taken him to get dressed. As it was, he spent nearly an hour choosing his shirt and tie. He didn’t want to go with a plain white shirt and black tie—that was too boring. Jack wanted to stand out. He did end up opting for the black tie, but, after discarding about six shirts, he settled on a rich red shirt. Yeah, that’d catch Mac’s eye.

 

By the time Jack was ready, it was time to go pick up Mac. Jack drove his muscle car, again mindful of making a good impression. He pulled up in front of Mac’s place right on time, pleased when Mac immediately came out to meet him. The blond nearly took Jack’s breath away. Jack knew he was good-looking, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Mac. The younger man’s dark suit emphasized his shoulders and hugged his trim waist, and the bright blue shirt really made his eyes pop. Jack barely held back a wolf whistle—that would definitely _not_ be cool—Mac wasn’t a piece of meat. Jack was going to treat him well, show him Jack was worth taking a chance on, that their relationship could be more than friends. That meant being a gentleman, even if Jack really did just want to jump Mac. Instead, Jack held the door open for Mac with a cocky grin. “Your chariot awaits.”

 

“Thanks, Jack.” Mac slid in and made himself comfortable, sprawled in the seat with his arms across the back, almost, but not quite, touching Jack, making the older man long to close the distance. Unfortunately, he couldn’t and still drive. Jack envied Mac’s apparent calm. Jack’s pulse was racing, and he was second-guessing himself. What if Mac didn’t like this? Oh, well, it was too late to back out now.

 

Jack was dismayed when they reached the restaurant. The lot was crowded with luxury cars, and he swore the valet sneered at his. Sure there were sports cars galore, but they were all shiny new porsches and corvettes, not classics like his. Jack was proud of his car, but it was a junker by comparison.

 

The patrons seemed better dressed, too. Mac and Jack were no slouches, but everybody else seemed to be wearing a designer suit. Jack was seriously regretting his choice, but he was determined to go through with hit. He took a deep breath and dialed up the charm. “Dalton, party of two,” he told the maître d’.

 

Jack thought he detected a sneer from the man. “Right this way.” He led the two men to a tiny table wedged next to the kitchen door. Definitely not the best seat in the house. Jack would have to make the most of it. “Thank you, sir,” Jack said, waiting for Mac to be seated before sitting himself. The maître d’ just sniffed before retreating back to his station. Jack crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair in a show of nonchalance as he picked up the menu.

 

He nearly choked at the prices. This was definitely out of his usual price range. Mac was worth it, he reminded himself. “See anything you like?” he asked Mac, trying to exude confidence, as if he ate here everyday.

 

Mac barely glanced at his menu. “Whatever. I’m not really big on French food.”

 

Oh. Well, Jack refused to be daunted. “I’ll order for both of us, then.” He perused the menu. It was full of terms Jack had never seen before, like “barded” and “cocotte”. He struggled to find something recognizable, finally throwing his menu down in defeat. He leaned across the table. “I don’t recognize half the things on the menu,” he confessed.

 

That got a small chuckle from Mac. “Look, I know you probably went through a lot of effort to get reservations, but do you mind if we just grab a burger somewhere?”

 

Jack tried to hide his disappointment, but he didn’t quite succeed. “We can stay if you want,” Mac said, picking up his menu. “I’m sure I can find something I like.”

 

“Nah,” Jack said. “This really isn’t my sort of place.”

 

“So, why’d you pick it?” Mac asked, genuinely curious.

 

“I wanted to make a good impression, show you I was worth your time.”

 

Mac reached across the table and put his hand on Jack’s. “You don’t have to impress me, Jack. I already know you’re worth my time.”

 

Jack’s heart leapt. Maybe this wasn’t such a long shot after all. “Yeah? So, you think you might want to make a regular thing of this?”

 

“That depends. Are you going to keep forcing French food on me?” Mac’s tone was light.

 

“Nah, I think we can chalk this up as a bust. I’d like to keep seeing you, though.”

 

“We see each other all the time,” Mac said, but Jack knew he was teasing.

 

“You know what I mean—dating.”

 

Mac’s hand tightened around Jack’s, and Jack turned it to squeeze back. “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”

 

Jack’s smile lit up the restaurant. “Great! Now, what say we get out of here?”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Mac said.


End file.
